Photo: Pubdog · Public domainBatavia draws 4,982 commuters a day, with 1.9 jobs for every working resident
About one in seven stay in Batavia for work; outside it, Batavia is the main destination (21%, 2 miles). There are 5,334 jobs in Batavia, against 2,816 working residents. Jobs and income earn Batavia C; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Batavia apart on work
Batavia is the work center of its corner
Every town that borders Batavia (Stafford, Pembroke, Alexander, Bethany, Oakfield and others) has fewer jobs than working residents, while Batavia has 1.9 per resident. Next door ↓
Commutes from Batavia are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Batavia and Batavia trade workers both ways
Batavia is the top workplace for Batavia residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Batavia come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Batavia draws workers from far and wide
The 5,334 jobs in Batavia are filled from a wide area. Batavia’s own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 29%; the other 64% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The figures behind Batavia’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Batavia is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #543 of 758 in New York. The poverty rate holds Batavia’s grade up (9.2%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (7.0%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Batavia could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Each way, about 23 minutes from Batavia
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Batavia workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,480 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where Batavia’s workforce comes from
Where Batavia clocks in
21% of workers
5% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How many people are in Batavia by day
On a workday 2,464 residents head out to work and 352 work right here.
About 9,600 people are in Batavia on a workday afternoon, 35% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Batavia’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Batavia, 2013 → 2023: 4,431 → 5,334. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Batavia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Batavia, by distance
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Batavia walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Batavia is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns, #523 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 5.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,752 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.0% of Batavia households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Batavia’s commuters take a bus or train.
Batavia is 2,267th of 3,164 U.S. towns of 5,000 to 9,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 16 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,265 | Volney NY | 5,660 | $75K | 14.6% | 5.1% | 6% | C |
| 2,266 | Kill Devil Hills NC | 7,731 | $90K | 9.1% | 7.1% | 22% | C |
| 2,267 | Batavia NY | 7,096 | $67K | 9.2% | 7.0% | 12% | C |
| 2,268 | St. Gabriel LA | 6,987 | $75K | 17.6% | 8.3% | 9% | C |
| 2,269 | Willis TX | 7,652 | $69K | 11.1% | 12.3% | 7% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,164 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Batavia, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
How Batavia compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Pembroke (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Batavia workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batavia | – | C | B− | 23 min | $67,207 |
| Stafford | under 2% | B | C− | 21 min | $87,554 |
| Pembroke | 2% | B+ | C | 26 min | $91,534 |
| Alexander | under 2% | B | C− | 22 min | $75,875 |
| Bethany | under 2% | C+ | D− | 28 min | $75,859 |
| Oakfield | under 2% | C+ | C | 25 min | $67,067 |
| Elba | under 2% | B | D | 23 min | $91,875 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Batavia’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Batavia: questions
What is the median household income in Batavia?
$67,207 (±$11,376) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Batavia?
9.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Batavia?
23 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Batavia work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Batavia (21%, 2 mi), Amherst (5%, 27 mi), Rochester (5%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Batavia walkable?
Batavia is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Batavia without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Batavia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Batavia
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.